The Look of Love
by chocolatequeen
Summary: After two years of friendship, James and Rose finally admit to the truth they've always seen in each other's eyes. Coffee shop AU.


Love

 _Noble and Smith Coffee and Tea—Why not give a cuppa for Christmas?_

Rose flushed with pleasure when she saw her own hand-lettered work in the window of her favourite coffee shop. She'd been doing their windows since her first year in school, but this year's Christmas art really outshone everything else she'd done.

She'd painted an entire winter vignette, with children sledding down a hill and building a snowman. In the middle of the picture, couples skated hand in hand around a pond.

Rose stepped through the crowd of people bustling up and down the pavement so she could touch one of the happy couples. The woman's blonde hair was loose and trailing after her in the wind, and if the bloke's brown hair and arched eyebrow looked a lot like a certain coffee shop owner…

A twinge of nervous excitement joined her pride. She tapped the card she held against her fingers and tried to imagine how James would respond.

The bell over the door jingled merrily, adding to the festive sounds in the air. "Rose! I almost didn't think you'd make it today—you're later than usual."

Rose took a deep breath and turned around to look at James Smith, the bloke she'd secretly been in love with for two years.

All her efforts to stay calm were pointless when she saw him leaning casually against the doorframe of the cafe. He was wearing his favourite brown pinstriped suit, but he'd set aside the jacket like he usually did when he was working behind the counter. Instead, his shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing his freckled forearms. His tie hung loosely around his neck, and the end was tossed up over his shoulder so it wouldn't dangle in the milk when he steamed it.

Then Rose saw his crowning glory, and the schoolgirl giddiness she'd felt when she saw him was replaced with a burst of laughter. Perched on top of his head was a set of reindeer antlers, complete with a jaunty bow and a bell that jingled when he shook his head.

"What are you…" James reached up to his hair. "Oh. Donna made me wear them, you know, since it's Christmas Eve. She got them from her granddad." His ears and cheeks turned bright red, and he took them off and tugged on his ear.

Rose shook her head and pulled them from his hands. "I think they look perfect," she told him as she put them back on his head. "You look very dashing." She giggled again. "Maybe you're Dasher?"

James preened a bit when she called him dashing, but before they could continue the conversation, a gust of wind blew down the street and he shivered violently. "Brrr! What are we standing out here for? Come inside. I'll make you my newest holiday drink."

Rose followed James inside and slid her coat off. "And what's that? Cinnamon swizzle mocha? Orange spice tea? Coffee with mulling spices in it?"

James arched an eyebrow as he ducked behind the counter. "You won't be laughing at me in a minute, Rose Tyler."

To Rose's surprise, he reached up to the tea canisters instead of filling the espresso pod with grounds. "What are you doing?" She sidled closer so she could watch him work.

James smirked as he measured out a bunch of spices into a tea bag. "Not what you expected, is it Rose?"

"I was only joking when I suggested mulled coffee, James."

He stuck his tongue out at her, then turned around to a slow cooker and ladled steaming liquid into the cup. The coffee shop was instantly filled with the aroma of cinnamon, clove, and orange peel. Rose couldn't help her soft sigh of satisfaction, and James rocked back on his heels after she took the cup from him.

Rose brought the cup to her nose and sniffed. "Oh, that smells gorgeous," she murmured. "What is it?"

"Hot apple juice, with spices. Basically mulled apple juice instead of mulled wine." He shook his head quickly when she started to take a sip. "Let it cool for a minute, Rose. It's hotter than most things."

Rose nodded and took the cup with her to her table. She glanced back at James, working at the espresso machine on his own beverage. _This is it,_ she told herself, her heart pounding when she put his card on the table in front of the empty chair.

When James joined her a moment later, his steps slowed when he caught sight of the card. "What's this?" He set his coffee down and picked it up as he sat down.

"Just…" Rose licked her dry lips. "Just open it."

His finger slid under the envelope flap, but his gaze didn't leave her face, and Rose knew he could tell how nervous she was. His forehead was wrinkled in confusion, and she had to knot her hands together to keep from opening the card for him to get it over with.

Finally, he pulled the card out of the envelope. His giggle when he saw the picture of Santa falling into an open fire eased some of Rose's nerves, and she laughed along with him when he read the inside greeting.

Then he picked up the two pieces of heavy card stock that she'd put inside the card, and she couldn't breathe again.

"An Evening in the Stars," he read aloud. "Rose, these are tickets for the planetarium show next month."

She nodded.

His mouth dropped open as he stared at her. "It's been sold out for months!"

Rose knew that perfectly well. She'd heard James talk up the show, then she'd heard all about his disappointment when he was sick the week tickets went on sale and he missed getting them.

"Well… You remember that week?"

"Only in bits and pieces," he said drily.

"When I realised you were going to miss getting tickets, I ordered for you. I've had these since September, just waiting to give to you."

James' eyes widened. "But… you…" He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then looked at the tickets. "There are two here."

Rose's palms were sweaty, and she wiped them off on her trousers. "Yeah. Well… I thought we could go together? I love listening to you talk about the stars. And if I could see this with you… that would be fantastic."

James didn't say anything, and Rose almost lost her nerve. But she'd promised herself she would at least tell him how she felt, even if he didn't feel the same way. She couldn't handle not knowing, wondering if she were reading too much into his actions, wondering if he could possibly return her feelings or if he just saw her as a friend.

So after a steadying breath, she looked him in the eye. "I thought it could be a date, if you like." James' eyes widened, and Rose forced herself to continue on with the speech she'd rehearsed. "You've been my best friend for two years, James, ever since the first time I came into the shop on my way home from class. But… the thing is, I've been falling for you almost as long, and I keep wondering what it would be like if we were more than friends." She shrugged, then gestured at the tickets. "So I thought I'd ask."

Silence stretched between them, leaving Rose's confession hanging in the air. Rose thought his fingers tightened around the tickets, but that was the only outward sign that he'd heard her at all.

"James!"

Donna's strident tone interrupted the moment. James' head snapped around to the door between the kitchen and the front part of the shop. Then he looked back at Rose, and at the tickets in his hand.

"That's…" He pushed his chair back. "I should…" He gestured to the door. "You know Donna."

Then he whirled around and nearly ran from the room.

Rose stood frozen, staring at the open door between the backroom and the front of the coffee shop. Of all the possible reactions, she'd never imagined he would just run out of the room without even acknowledging that she'd just told him she had feelings for him.

She'd thought… two years of flirting, of teasing each other, of movie nights and long rambles through the park, of progressively longer hugs every time they said goodbye… Even though she'd been nervous, she hadn't really thought he would reject her.

 _Guess I got him wrong._

Tears clogged Rose's throat, but she swallowed them back. She'd already humiliated herself enough for one day—she could wait to cry until she got back to her flat.

She left her holiday drink sitting on the table and wrapped her arms around herself as she strode to the door. She was almost gone when Donna's voice stopped her from walking out.

"You wrote an ode to her eyes!"

Rose couldn't make out what James muttered in reply, but his voice went high-pitched and squeaky like it did when he was embarrassed. She turned away from the door and slowly inched back to her table.

James had written an ode to her eyes? A poem about her? Maybe Donna meant he'd written a poem for someone else, but given the immediate context, it certainly seemed likely that it had been for her.

She sat back down and waited for James to come back. Maybe she hadn't gotten him wrong, after all.

oOoOo

James shuffled into the back room, his heart racing. Rose had asked him out? On a date? And she said she was falling for him? That was… He shook his head, hoping that would make it seem more real.

"Oh, what's this then?" Donna asked, gesturing to the tickets he still had clutched in his hands.

He stared at them, then looked up at her. "Present. Gift. From Rose."

Donna's eyes lit up and a smirk curved the corners of her mouth. "From Rose, really? Well, maybe you have a chance with her after all. If you ever get around to asking her out, that is."

James raked his trembling hands through his hair. "She already asked me out," he said, and speaking the words out loud didn't make it seem any more real. "That's… the present, it's tickets to this exhibition at the planetarium in January. I was telling her about it and she went and got tickets."

Donna's eyes widened. "Well, she seems to know what you like, at least."

James shuffled his feet. Rose did know him, and it terrified him. No one had known him this well since his parents had died when he was just fifteen. Being alone was lonely, but it also meant no one had the power to hurt him.

He looked at the tickets, then towards the shop. Rose could hurt him, if he let her get any closer. The temptation to run was strong, but the pull towards her was even stronger.

"What on Earth is going on in that brain of yours now?" Donna's voice pulled James out of his own thoughts.

He tapped the tickets against his fingers. "So… you think I ought to say yes, then?"

The back room fell deathly silent. Even the dishwasher chose that moment to stop at the end of a cycle.

"You. Have. **Got.** To be kidding me!" Donna crossed the room and smacked him on the back side of the head.

James rubbed the sore spot and pouted up at her. "What was that for?"

"You have had a crush on her from the moment you laid eyes on her, and now that she's taken enough leave of her senses to ask you out, you wonder if you should say yes?"

James scuffed his toe against the floor. "I do not have a crush on her!" he mumbled. He was head over heels in love with Rose Tyler—far more than a simple crush.

Donna crossed her arms over her chest and looked at James. "You wrote an ode to her eyes!" she shouted, and James' gaze darted to the door. "'They're the colour of whiskey, and when I look into them I'm intoxicated.' It doesn't even rhyme, Space Boy."

James' fear that Rose would hear was momentarily forgotten, overridden by his wounded pride. He threw his hands up in the air. "It's called blank verse! It's an art!"

"Well speaking of art, there's an artist waiting out there for you to accept her date—if she hasn't decided you're too much of an idiot and she doesn't want to date you after all."

James' heart stopped. He hadn't considered that Rose might not take his sudden departure well… that might actually feel like he was avoiding her after she'd taken the risk to ask him out.

He spun around and looked at the door, and a moment later, he felt hands on his back pushing him gently through it. "Go on, James," Donna said, her voice soft now. "I promise you, it will be worth it."

James stumbled over his own feet as he reentered the main part of the shop. His heart started working again when he saw Rose, still sitting at their table. She was facing the door, and he took a moment to grab her favourite chocolate muffin and put it on a plate before he swallowed hard and crossed the room to join her.

"I'm back," he told her as he took his seat. "And I brought you something to apologise for running off on you just then."

Rose turned around and smiled at him. "It's all right, James. Donna asked for you."

He shook his head slowly. "I didn't run away from you because Donna called my name, Rose. That was just… convenient timing."

Her face fell. "Oh."

James kicked himself. "Oh, bollocks. I'm not saying this right." He took a deep breath. "You're not the only one who's wondered what it would be like if we were more than friends. You're just the only one brave enough to say anything about it."

James thought he knew all of Rose Tyler's smiles, but the shy one crossing her face right now was new. It looked particularly fetching with her pink cheeks, and he wondered if he could make her smile like that every day.

"Yeah?"

He blinked, trying to remember what she was replying to. As soon as he remembered, he reached out carefully for her hand, feeling giddy when she took it willingly. "Definitely," he said firmly. "You heard Donna, didn't you?"

Mischief sparkled in her eyes, and James felt positively giddy. "You mean the part about you writing poetry about my eyes?" She laced her fingers firmly with his. "I think I want to hear this blank verse of yours."

James groaned. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

Rose shook her head, and now her tongue peeked out from behind her smile. "Oh, I would have asked about it either way," she assured him. "What exactly did you say about my eyes?"

James looked at Rose, then at their hands, linked together on the table. It looked just as natural as it felt, like they'd been made to hold each other.

He looked back at her face, and one eyebrow was arched over the eyes he loved so much. _Oh, blimey._ She actually wanted to hear his poem.

"I said…" Rose's warm brown eyes returned his gaze steadily, and he impulsively skipped over the beginning of the poem to paraphrase the lines that felt most appropriate. "When I look into Rose's eyes, I see love reflected back. The only question I have is this: am I seeing her heart, or mine?"

Tears trembled on Rose's eyelashes, and James reached out to wipe them away. "It's my heart, James," she whispered. "My heart has always been in my eyes when I looked at you."

James' heart raced, but the urge to run had finally faded. Rose loved him. His heart was safe with her. "I love you, Rose Tyler."

Her smile took his breath away. "I love you, too."


End file.
